Down the Rosepath
by clarissafrench
Summary: The Doctor sends Martha on a quest to recover what he couldn't.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Spoilers through _Human Nature/Family of Blood_.

Red lights flashed all around them, and the distant shrill ring of an alarm carried through the air.

"Martha, you've got to do it. It's the only way," gasped the Doctor.

"I can't leave you here," Martha pleaded.

"You have to."

"Why can't you do this with me?"

"Believe me, Martha, there's nothing in the universe I want more."

His sweaty face held a look of desperation. He tugged his left arm, still manacled to the wall with a glowing chain. Overcome by the effort, he sank to his knees.

"Listen to me. You've got to do exactly as I say. Pick up the glowing sphere over there," he said, pointing to a table. "Close your eyes and think of Rose. You've got to get to her. Tell her I found a way to get her back, but the Bad Wolf has to come too."

He closed his eyes for a moment to regain his composure. "I'm depending on you, Martha."

With that, he collapsed completely. Martha stood there, terrified. A sudden noise from the next room frightened her into action, and she picked up the globe, whispering, "I'll be back with help, Doctor."

Then, closing her eyes, she thought of all the things he'd said about Rose since she'd met him... _Sometimes I have guests... it was recently, friend of mine. Rose, her name was, Rose, and we were together...With her family, happy. She's fine. Not that you're replacing her...Rose'd know. Friend of mine, Rose. Right now, she'd say exactly the right thing..._

He'd even said he'd brought her to New Earth. Martha sighed. She'd been annoyed, just thinking he was on the rebound. But if he was doing all this just to get to her, it had to be more than that. All those times he'd get a far-away look in his eyes... Never mind that, though. This wasn't the time to be feeling guilty.

Finally, she focused on the pen and ink drawing of the mysterious Rose from John Smith's journal. Martha could feel a wind whipping round her, lifting her up. The next thing she knew, she came down hard. Opening her eyes, she saw a great swath of gray sky. Beneath her fingers was cold, gritty sand. She'd landed on a lonely-looking beach.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** A special thank you to misscam, who corrected my sad attempts at writing lines in Norwegian._

Martha wandered the chilly beach for an hour before she saw anyone. It was plenty of time to think. As she walked aimlessly over the cold, wet sand, she thought about the Doctor's instructions. He'd know where to go from here, she was sure of it. If only he'd given her some hint about Rose's location. For that matter, he obviously missed Rose deeply. Why hadn't he come for her before now, when he'd had to send Martha in his stead? Martha's thoughts continued to bubble over with questions that she couldn't answer. She sighed and looked around. An older man, a fisherman, was walking toward her. Starting toward him, she called out, "This'll sound silly, but could you tell me where I am?"

He looked at her, confused. "Snakker du norsk?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you," said Martha.

"Bli med til hjemstedet mitt. De kan hjelpe deg. Komme til meg landsby," he said, waving her over and pointing to a spot further away from the shoreline.

Cautiously, Martha joined him, walking across the sand. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of following a complete stranger, but she didn't really see any other options. She had no idea where on Earth she was. And that was assuming Rose lived on Earth- the Doctor had wanted her to find Rose, but he hadn't mentioned where Rose lived or even her surname. If this wasn't Earth, she was really going to have trouble.

They walked on for a while in silence. After about 20 minutes, the man stopped and pointed. "Ser du der borte? Det er hjemstedet mitt. "

In the distance, maybe a mile or so off, Martha could see a small town. Turning to the man, she smiled. "Thank you. I hope someone there will understand me."

Nodding cheerfully as they continued walking, the man said, "Det er ikke langt unna."

* * *

They arrived in the small town about twenty minutes later, and the fisherman had shown her down the main street to what appeared to be a city hall. Stepping inside, Martha waited as the fisherman spoke to a gray-haired secretary.

"Denne jenta gikk seg bort på stranden," he said, gesturing in Martha's direction. "Hun snakker ikke norsk. Kan du hjelpe henne?"

The secretary nodded and waved Martha over to the desk. "I really hope you can help me. I just want to know where I am," said Martha.

"Engleske?" asked the secretary. Turning around, she called, "Ingrid?"

Ingrid, a younger brown-haired woman, stepped out of the next office and walked over to the secretary's desk. "Do you speak English?" asked Martha. "These people have been very nice, but we haven't been able to have a conversation."

Ingrid smiled. "Don't worry, then. What can I do for you?"

"My name is Martha Jones, and I know this sounds strange, but can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in Dårlig Ulv Stranden."

"And where's that?"

Ingrid seemed surprised. "What country, you mean? Norway." Taking in Martha's surprise she asked, "You didn't know?"

"It's a long story, Ingrid, but what I really need is to get back to London. Can you help me?"

"I'll see what I can do," she said, walking back toward the other office.

"Thank you," said Martha. "Oh, Ingrid? Would you happen to know the date?"

"Certainly, Martha," said Ingrid, looking at her curiously. "It's the first of June."

"Sorry, but what's the year?"

"2008."

* * *

Ingrid was a blessing, Martha decided. She couldn't have found anyone more helpful. Somehow, she'd gotten Martha on a flight to London as a standby passenger, free of charge. Just how she'd managed that, Martha didn't know. Now back in London, Martha thought about going home, but since she'd apparently been dropped off in the future, she wasn't sure what to do. Usually, she let the Doctor worry about time paradoxes and the like, but now she had to think about those sorts of things for herself. And how would she search the world for one girl, when she didn't even know her full name? How many girls out there were called Rose?

Instead of heading to her flat (which for all she knew might not be hers anymore), Martha walked over to the nearest cafe to figure out her next move. The atmosphere was casual, and an aroma of baked goods lingered in the air. Martha finally felt comfortable, esconced in such a safe environment after the uncertainty of landing in the future in a foreign country with no idea where she was. She sat down at her table and turned on her phone. She didn't feel like calling her mother again so soon, but she figured she could at least check the messages.

"That's odd," she murmured. The phone turned on as usual and was getting service, but the welcome screen seemed to have changed providers from Orange to something called Vitex Mobile. "Oh, well, maybe they took over Orange in the past year."

She dialed her message box and waited. Although the phone appeared to be getting great service, the voice mail wasn't connecting. Martha closed the phone and slipped it in her pocket to try again later. Across the table, she noticed another chair with a newspaper on it. Picking it up, she flipped through the pages, until something caught her eye. It was back on page 12, so it couldn't have been earth-shattering news to most people, but Martha couldn't take her eyes off the article. Under the headline, "Torchwood agents subdue Cyberman in Oxford shopping centre" was a photograph. A blond woman was standing by one of those police barriers at a crime scene. Martha would almost chalk it up to wishful thinking, but the woman's face was unmistakable. It was Rose.

* * *

What the Norwegian lines mean:  
Do you speak Norwegian?  
Come to the town. They will be able to help you.  
See? My town.  
It's not far away.  
This girl got lost on the beach. She does not speak Norwegian. Can you help her?  
English?


	3. Chapter 3

Martha couldn't believe her luck- she'd happened upon Rose purely by accident. She just had to figure out where to go to actually see her. Walking up to the café counter, she said, "Excuse me, but do you know where I might find the Torchwood company?"

"Why? Did you see another Cyberman runnin' about? They had one in this street last week," said the girl behind the counter.

"No, no, nothing like that. A friend of mine works there, and I said I'd meet her for lunch. The thing is, I forgot to ask her where the building was."

"That's a relief, then. It's not far off. Just go down this street three blocks, make a right, then take your first left. You'll see the headquarters a few blocks down from there."

"Cheers," said Martha.

Martha stepped out of the shop, repeating the girl's directions and at the same time wondering about these Cybermen. They were mentioned in that newspaper article as well. She hadn't really thought about it in a long time, but now she found herself pondering that mass sighting of them the day Adeola died. Martha had been stuck in the lab at school- she didn't even see the daylight that day. Stopping for lunch had been out of the question; there was just too much work. Her research experiment with bacterial cultures had gone wrong, and she'd had to redo the entire project. When she came out late that night, it was like the world had gone mad and was just then recovering. The stories and the rumors about Canary Wharf and the invasion of metal soldiers who called themselves Cybermen were everywhere. Some said they were the ghosts that had appeared for months, while others called it an alien invasion.

Honestly, she'd never been sure what to believe. It had seemed too crazy, yet so many people had seen them that she'd chalked it up to the "we can't be alone in the universe" theory, along with all the other weird things that had happened in the last few years. When she ended up with the Doctor that day at work, it had all come back to her. But with all the excitement of dodging giant crabs, Daleks, and mutant professors, she hadn't thought much about it since then. And now, it seemed that a Cyberman on the loose was old news; when had the people of London become so blase about things like that?

Martha shook off the thoughts of Cybermen. She could always ask Rose about them when she found her. _Rose._ The enigmatic blond was yet another subject she knew very little about in the face of her quest. Obviously she'd been very close with the Doctor. You could tell that just by seeing his face when he mentioned her. It was like he was in another world, reliving the memories with relish and with pain. Had she broken it off with him? The Doctor never seemed angry when he spoke of Rose. The look in his eyes... it was one of gut-wrenching sadness. If he hadn't said otherwise, Martha would have sworn that Rose had died, and he was mourning her.

She wondered what the Doctor had been like when he was with Rose. Almost certainly he would have had that reckless sense of adventure, but had they been a cute couple in the face of daily danger? He was always putting himself in the direct line of fire, too, like he had a death wish or something. He'd sacrificed himself to the Plasmavore, offered his life to save the Hooverville from the Daleks, and even lured the grotesque Professor Lazarus away from the party of people by making himself bait and running through the LazLabs building. Had he been like that when he'd journeyed with Rose, or was that his way of dealing with his loss?

Her curiosity wasn't just about how the Doctor might have changed. What was Rose herself like? She looked just a bit younger than Martha in that newspaper photo. What about her had made the Doctor fall in love? Was she brave in the face of Daleks? Interested in science, like the Doctor? More importantly, would she listen to what Martha had to say? Maybe she'd had a fight with the Doctor or didn't like living in the Tardis. Martha was guessing that their separation might have been her choice, since she highly doubted it was the Doctor's.

She turned the corner and looked down the street. Two blocks down, she could see it. "I know this area- they put this organization for aliens and the like in place of a Tesco Metro and a W.H. Smith? Oh, that's brilliant."

Hurrying down to the building, she looked up at the gleaming sign above the massive glass doors. Torchwood. Slowly reaching out a hand, she pulled open the door and stepped inside. Spotting a secretary's desk near the main staircase, she went over to it.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for my friend Rose. I haven't seen her in ages, but she mentioned that she was working here."

"Does she know you're coming?"

"Well no, but..." Martha trailed off. She didn't know how much to tell anyone about why she'd come, but she needed so desperately to get in to see Rose. "Look, you can ring up and tell her I'm here? I'm sure she'll see me. Tell her it's Martha Jones. See, here's my ID badge from the hospital where I work. Tell her I've just been to see the doctor, and he said I should come and talk with her about what he told me. If you don't mind, it's rather a sensitive topic for me, but she'll know what I'm talking about."

"I'll try ringing her office now," said the secretary, pushing a few buttons on the switchboard. "If you'll just have a seat over there."

Sitting down on the sleek waiting room couch, Martha felt her stomach become a mass of nerves.

* * *

"Miss Tyler," the secretary's voice rang through Rose's headset, "there is a Doctor Martha Jones here to speak with you."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks to timesup and gabesaunt for beta-ing._

Rose sighed as she sat down at her desk. One year. A whole year since she'd seen the Doctor's flickering hologram on the beach, told him what they both already knew, and sobbed as he disappeared.

Life was as normal as she could make it these days, given that rounding up remaining Cybermen was a regular activity. Still, she was doing what she'd told the Doctor she would- defending the Earth. From a functional point of view, she was coping with life just fine. She went to work, did her job, came home, and got enough to eat. She even wore a professional black suit, although she secretly still felt more at home in a hoodie and jeans. Emotionally, it was different. Nobody could come close to the Doctor in her heart, and she really wasn't interested in looking for someone who might.

Her family understood. They saw her valiantly making an effort to build a new life, but they accepted that perhaps her broken heart would never be mended. Even her mum, who would normally be the first one urging her to meet someone nice, kept quiet. Months ago, during a rare winter storm, Rose had sat by the window, imagining the windswept snow and icicles to be the formations of Woman Wept. Rose herself almost never shed an external tear, but the pain was still there. Still, she carried on each day. He'd want her to keep going and not waste her life. If only forever had been longer...

Opening the mission report template on her computer, she started filling in the details from yesterday's trek to Oxford. There hadn't been too much damage; they'd gotten there before it had "deleted" anyone. Even so, she had to fill out a report. Paperwork never disappeared; it just became a crowded virtual inbox. Just as she'd filled in the basic information, her headset beeped. She reached up and pressed a button on the side of her headset to receive the call.

"Miss Tyler, there is a Doctor Martha Jones here to speak with you."

"I'm not expecting anyone today," said Rose.

"She says she's an old friend of yours," said the secretary.

 _An old friend? I don't have any of those here; I wonder what she wants_ , thought Rose.

The secretary continued, "She was very particular about her message. She said to tell you that she has been to see the doctor, and he said she should come and talk with you about what he told her."

Rose froze. It couldn't be, could it? Had this random woman hit on the right words by accident, or was she being cryptic about a real message? If the Doctor was here, he'd have burst through her office door himself. Why would he send a messenger? _Only one way to find out_. She'd have to be careful, make sure this was the real thing.

"Yes, please send her back to my office."

* * *

The secretary looked up at Martha. "She'll see you now. Go up the stairs, turn left, and it's the door on your right."

Martha made her way up the stairs. _She must have understood my message. There's enough security here that if she didn't want to see me, she could easily avoid me_.

All she had to do now was convince Rose that she was on the level about the Doctor. Just how she could do that, she wasn't sure. Talk a lot about the Tardis? She'd have to play it by ear. Martha stopped in front of a door marked "Rose Tyler, Contact Specialist".

Reaching with a slightly trembling hand, she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Inside, the office looked fairly normal, even boring. Several photo frames decorated the desk, but none faced toward Martha. A sleek laptop sat on top of the desk, surrounded by post it notes in a manner that reminded Martha of the Tardis console. Behind the desk, a swivel chair faced away from her. As she stepped into the room, the chair turned around, and there she was. Rose Tyler, the phantom that haunted the Doctor, the sketch from the book of impossible dreams, the dream that seemed to walk away from him and disappear.

"Not that I don't appreciate a friendly visit, but you're not an old friend of mine. So why are you here?"

Martha took a deep breath. "He sent me to come find you; he needs you."

"Who needs me?" asked Rose softly.

"The Doctor. He's in trouble- that's why he isn't here himself. I know you know who I'm talking about. He never stops thinking of you, even when he's got one of his manic ideas."

"That's impossible. There's no way he could have sent you here. He doesn't have a way to get here."

"How do you mean? He's got the Tardis; he can go anywhere in time and space. You're telling me he can't get to 2008?"

Rose looked at Martha, observing confusion on her face. "You really don't know, do you? Tell me, Martha, was it? Who was president of the United Kingdom in 2006?"

"We haven't got a president. How could you not know that? There was the prime minister, Harriet Jones."

"And what happened in 10 Downing Street the year before?"

"It blew up, didn't it? Some sort of faulty missile?"

"And how many zeppelins do you usually see cruising the skies of London?"

"Zeppelins? You've got to be kidding me. None, I guess."

"Then I need to show you somethin'," said Rose, waving Martha over to a window. She pulled up the window shade. "Does this look like your London?"

She had been so focused on finding Rose that she hadn't even bothered to look up. But now... Looking outside, she could see at least 30 zeppelins floating through the air.

"Well, we're slightly into my future. Maybe there's a zeppelin fad I didn't hear about."

"That'd make sense, wouldn't it? It's not right, though. Welcome to a parallel world, Martha."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: A major thank you to timesup for helping me completely rework this chapter._

"This world is different from the one where I grew up," said Rose. "Here, we've got a president and not a prime minister. 10 Downing Street never got hit with that missile, but there was a massive invasion of Cybermen. It just happened in a different way. You see, the Cybermen who invaded your world came from here."

"But it doesn't look like they took over here- this place looks almost exactly like home," said Martha.

"We've had time to recover. And it's not the same, not even close." Rose looked out the window, staring at the zeppelins and remembering. "Here, Jackie Tyler died and Pete Tyler lived. In my world, it was the opposite. When you look around, everything seems the same on the surface, just for a moment. Once you take a closer look, though, you see all the parts that don't make sense, that aren't from your life- your mobile phone, the air traffic, your _family_."

"I did notice a difference on my phone, but I didn't really think to check on my family," said Martha. "The girl in the cafe said it was 2008, so I'm in my future, whether I'm in a parallel world or not- I didn't want to mess something up."

"Let's say I believe you're from a different parallel world- my world. How do I know that the Doctor sent you? What can you tell me about him to prove it to me?"

"To sum him up? He's always bursting with that manic energy, ready for anything, even when things look terrible. There's that mischievous gleam he gets when he's thought of a clever way to get around whatever evil alien we're facing." Martha smiled at the thought of the Doctor talking a mile a minute about some idea he'd had.

"I've been traveling with him for a few months now, ever since we saved each other's lives," said Martha. "I didn't even believe him when he said he wasn't human, not at first. He offered me a trip in the Tardis to say thank you. We went back in time, then forward, to New Earth. He said he'd been there with you."

 _Can I just say- traveling with you, I love it._ "I still remember the smell of the apple grass that day."

"I think you might have gotten the better end of it- we ended up in the slums. There was some mad running for our lives, though if you know him, you're probably familiar with that."

"Oh, believe me, I know. We ended up possessed by an alien and running from these diseased zombie people. But it all turned out right in the end- he saved them all. 'Life will out,' he said," Rose said. "He certainly knows how to show a girl a good time, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, who wouldn't want to try and escape giant crabs?" said Martha. Seeing Rose's face, she added, "It's a bit of a story, that. It was when we visited New Earth. We got separated, and when I saw him again, he was with this person with a cat's face, and this huge head he called The Face of Boe. I remember this part clearly. The big head, he was dying, but before he died he told the Doctor that they were both the last of their kind, but that he wasn't alone."

Martha sighed, remembering that day. "Afterward, I asked him about it, asked if that head had meant me, but he said no. I pushed, and he told me about his planet, told me everyone had died, and the planet was gone."

"The Time War," whispered Rose.

"Then things got really mad, and there really wasn't a spare moment to talk. We ran into Daleks, for one, and then there were the months when he was human."

"Hang on, he was human? How did that happen?"

"Well, it's sort of complicated. We were hiding from these aliens who could smell that he was a Time Lord, so to escape them, he had this fob watch, and he basically put himself inside it. Not physically, I mean, but everything that made him the Doctor- the memories, the knowledge, the personality- they were all inside. He became this complete stranger- didn't even know he was hiding from anything. We got found out eventually, but we made it through."

"That must have been scary- how long were you hiding with him?"

"I had to pretend to be a maid for three months. It was more frustrating than anything else. That's when I saw the picture he'd drawn of you in his journal from his dreams. Bits of him were still there, in his dreams," said Martha. "I did wonder then if... maybe The Face of Boe was talking about you?"

Martha paused for a moment, then continued. "Speaking of you, I've got a question. If we're really in a parallel world, then how did you get here?"

"Do you remember the Battle of Canary Wharf?"

"I heard all about it. Hold on, that was you?"

"Well not just me. The Doctor was there too," said Rose. "We were fighting the Daleks and the Cybermen all at once. The Cybermen had pressed their way into our world from a parallel world- this one. They'd come through the Void just like the Daleks, and to get rid of them, we opened the Void, only I slipped and started to get sucked toward the Void, when my alternate dad, who I'd met before, popped back to save me. He brought me here, and there was no time to send me back before the Void closed. I was stuck here with Mum and my friend Mickey, and the Doctor was stuck on the other side."

Martha looked at Rose, and continued her explanations in a softer tone. "You know, when he offered me that first trip on the Tardis, the first thing he mentioned was you. He said he'd traveled with you recently, but that you were back home with your family now. Pointed out that I shouldn't think I was replacing you. I did fancy him quite a bit, but it seemed that either he was really oblivious, or he wasn't interested."

Martha reached out to put a comforting hand on Rose's arm.

"He's kept mentioning you the whole time I've known him," said Martha. "Even when he was human and lost his memories of being the Doctor, you were in his dreams. I saw the picture he drew of you in his journal. It was strange- he'd always say things about you, little things, but he never wanted to talk in detail about you or where you went. Sometimes he'd get this faraway look in his eyes, and it was like he was on another planet. But he looked so sad; I think he had to be missing you. I always figured it had been a bad breakup or something, but I never pictured this."

"But why didn't he come for me himself? And how did he send you here?"

"He couldn't. We were in this laboratory on some planet, and he saw this glowing metal ball. To look at him, you'd think someone just promised him everything he'd ever wanted. But before he could examine it properly, some guard came in. I managed to hide, but he wasn't quick enough. And, well, you know him; he always puts his foot in it when he's talking to new aliens. In short, he's stuck back there with them, and he needs your help, so he sent me. He told me to pick up this glowing ball."

She held up the sphere, still white, but no longer glowing.

"He said I had to get to you, that he needed your help. To activate the ball, I had to think of you. Since I don't really know you, I thought of all those times he'd mentioned you and seemed so sad. Next thing I knew, I was dropped on an absolutely freezing beach in Norway, if you can believe it. This small town by the ocean called-"

"Dårlig Ulv Stranden. The beach, of course. It's where we said goodbye. Bad Wolf Bay."

Rose's words triggered something in Martha's brain. "If that's what it translates to, then it must mean something," said Martha. "There's one other thing you should know. He said he'd found a way to get you back, but the Bad Wolf would have to come too."


	6. Chapter 6

_Bad Wolf_. The words echoed in Rose's head. She hadn't heard those words in a long time, not since she'd translated the name of that place in Norway. Back on the Gamestation, she'd thought those words were haunting them, but they ended up getting her back to the Doctor. Maybe it could happen again, thought Rose. Maybe they could deliver her to her Doctor once more. The Doctor had to know what that phrase meant to her, and he must have had a good reason for saying that to Martha. But how could it work? This time she didn't have the Tardis or a big yellow truck.

"Rose, you all right?" asked Martha.

Rose didn't respond; she just kept staring out the window, lost in thought. Martha tentatively reached out and touched Rose's shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

"He sent me home once, the Doctor," Rose said softly. "Didn't want me in danger, 'cause he'd promised my mum he'd keep me safe. Sent me away from a fleet of Daleks. He stayed behind and was going to die trying to stop them. But I figured it out- 'Bad Wolf' meant I could get back. Mickey and Mum helped, and it got me back, and I saved him, my Doctor. I had to become the Bad Wolf to save him, and then he took it out of me. Sacrificed himself to save me."

"How do you mean sacrificed? He's still around."

"He was a different person when I met him- literally. Short dark hair, northern accent, much more serious. But he was a man who could change his face." Rose sighed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"But what did the Doctor take?"

"I was the Bad Wolf, bursting with time vortex energy, and he took it into himself, and it killed him. But Time Lords are like cats- more than one life- and he sort of burst into this bright light, and suddenly, a completely different person was there. Except he was still the Doctor, always my Doctor."

Martha breathed in sharply. "He started to say something about it once. He thought he was going to die, and he started telling me this process that would happen when he did. I wouldn't let him finish, though, and he never mentioned it again."

Rose looked straight at Martha. "He was willing to die for me, and I've always been happy to do the same for him. Besides that, it's just not the same without him. You know what I mean. It's not the traveling; it's him. He changes your life." She paused. "And I love him."

Awkwardly patting Rose's shoulder, Martha nodded. "He does that. Gets to you, I mean; you just want to protect him."

Rose smiled sadly. "In the end, we saved the world. Some irony, isn't it? We give everyone else the world but lose everything that means the world to us."

"When he wasn't dashing around playing the hero, the Doctor always seemed so sad. I only asked him why a few times, and usually he didn't say much. I can't imagine how painful that was for both of you."

The two women stood in silence for a few minutes, staring out the window, until Martha spoke up again. "I still don't understand how this Bad Wolf thing fits in with vortex energy."

"To get back to him that time, I was ready to try anything- he'd sent me home to be safe, but all I could think of was him fighting and dying for everyone on the planet, while we all sat around with our normal lives, eating chips and working at the shops." Rose took a deep breath. "I couldn't let him die for us, not alone. So I opened the Tardis and looked inside. My memories of just what I did are a bit hazy, but the Doctor told me I'd absorbed the Time Vortex. But I couldn't keep it inside me; it'd kill me. He's every bit as protective as I am, you know. Noble, too. That's how he changed his face- took all the energy out of me so he'd die instead."

"But if he took it out of you, why'd he think it was here with you?"

"I wish I knew."

* * *

Martha sat on the couch as she waited for Rose. After talking, they'd gone to Rose's flat, where Rose had left her while she went to talk with her family. Rose had figured if the sphere had brought Martha here, it could also bring them back to the Doctor. Rose had also realized that the trip would most likely be one-way. It had been amazing to watch her transition through so many emotions so quickly as she realized what she had to do. In a matter of moments, Rose's face had morphed from a visage of desperate sadness to one of steely determination.

Thinking about the whole thing, Martha couldn't imagine making the choice to leave her entire family behind permanently. _I left my family without a second thought to travel with the Doctor... but I can always go back. I love being with the Doctor, but I don't know if I could do it. There's different something about them, Rose and the Doctor. I've never even seen them together, but separately, they're both sort of broken. Even without her family, I think she'd be whole if she had him._ She sighed. _I wish it had been me he needed so much. But that's life, isn't it?_

The bolt of the door clicked, and Rose stepped into the flat, her face a mixture of emotions.

"How did it go?" asked Martha.

"It was really hard, but they're going to support me," said Rose. "After all we've been through, they understand. I made my choice a long time ago; I made it several times. I was never going to leave him. Mum, Pete, Mickey- they knew that if I ever got the chance, I'd go back to him."

Rose sat down on the couch and looked down. "The thing is- I'm going to miss them all so much. It's not fair that I've got to choose."

When Rose looked up, Martha could see the tears in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. "I love them so much, but I love him too. And either way I go, I'll never be able to see the other side again, I think. Maybe we'll be able to communicate, but I won't know until after I've made the decision. They were great, though. Didn't make me feel bad or anything for wanting to go back to the Doctor. Mum said to make sure he was good to me, or she'd find a way into the other universe just to slap him one." Rose smiled a little as the tears now flowed down her cheeks.

"Did she slap him before?"

Rose nodded.

"I thought she might have- just something he said when my mum slapped him," Martha said. "'All the mothers, every time.'"

Smiling slightly, Rose said, "She got him pretty well that once, but she warmed up to him way before Mickey did."

"And how did he take the news?"

"Mickey? He's changed. He used to be so jealous of the Doctor, but today he reminded me what I once told him, that being with the Doctor, I found a better way of living my life. He found it here, because of the Doctor, but he told me I was just a shadow of the Rose I'd been when I was with the Doctor, and he wanted me to be happy. Said I wouldn't do anyone any good sitting around feeling like the tin dog."

Martha raised her eyebrows at that. "Tin dog?"

Rose waved her hand, shaking her head. "Never mind. That's a bit of a story in itself. Anyway," she said, standing up, "all my goodbyes won't mean a thing if we don't get the sphere working for a return trip."

Rose wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks with the edge of her thumb. Taking Rose's cue, Martha stood up and pulled the sphere out of her jacket pocket. It looked just the same as it had in Rose's office- no glow at all. "We'd better get started then, because I've got no idea how this thing works," said Martha.

* * *

An hour later, they were just as puzzled. They'd tried holding it and thinking of different memories, shaking it, holding it in the sunlight, and more. Nothing seemed to be working.

"Let's take a break for a few minutes," said Martha. "It won't do us any good to get too frustrated."

"I can't disagree there. Besides, I'm out of ideas at the moment; maybe if we rest, we'll come up with some more things to try. So, when did you start traveling with the Doctor?"

"He saved the hospital where I worked after it got transported to the moon."

"That'd definitely catch your attention," said Rose. "And then he invited you aboard?"

"Yeah. First, he was just taking me on one trip to thank me for saving him in the hospital. Then it was once to the past _and_ once to the future; the next trip was to show me New York, and finally took me home, to just the day after I'd left. He'd been acting like I was a tourist or a groupie or something, and that's where I told him that if it was just 'one more trip' every time, I wasn't having it. And he said okay, that I could just travel with him- no trip limit. Next place we went, he gave me a Tardis key; that's when I really felt like I was part of it all." Martha smiled at Rose. "How about you? When did you really start to feel like you were fitting in with him?"

"Well, we went forwards and backwards in time as well. He took me home for a visit, and he told me it had only been 12 hours since we left. I went up to see my mum to find that he'd mucked it up- we'd been gone 12 months. My mum had reported me missing, thought Mickey'd done away with me or something. Then there was that whole mess with the spaceship running into Big Ben. Remember that?"

Martha nodded.

"We were stuck at my mum's flat, watching the whole thing on the telly. He wasn't too keen on sitting around with my mum, since she'd slapped him as soon as she saw him, so he decided to go wandering. I told him I didn't want him swanning off, and he gave me that key to prove that he wouldn't leave me behind. When he went off with the Tardis to have a look at all the alien stuff, Mickey was sure he'd left me for good, but I knew he hadn't. I took out the key, and sure enough, it started glowing as the Tardis reappeared. I've kept it with me every day, just on the off chance..."

"That you'd see the Tardis one day?" asked Martha, softly.

Rose nodded and reached into her pocket. "Here it is," she said, as her fingers slid around the familiar object. As she pulled it out, she gasped. Martha just stared.

The key was glowing.


	7. Chapter 7

Slowly, Martha reached into her own pocket and pulled out another glowing key. "It's got to mean something," said Martha, "but the Tardis couldn't possibly be here. The Doctor had no way of getting back to it when I left him."

"Let me see that sphere again," said Rose.

Martha handed it to her, and Rose looked it over, turning it all around and feeling the surface. Near the bottom, there were several thin slots cut into the sphere.

"I didn't notice these before," said Rose. "But what if... What if the sphere needs something to activate it or charge it up? Like before, let's say it was charged up, and you just had to give it a destination. Now, we need to give it a spark, like you would with a car and jump leads."

Martha nodded. "Ok, but how big a power source would we need? I mean, it could be anything, from a 9-volt battery to a nuclear reactor."

Rose shook her head slowly. "I think we just need these." She pointed to the two glowing keys. "I think that's what the glowing means. They're connected to the Tardis, even a universe apart, and they can somehow sense the potential of the sphere. They'd fit in these slots, wouldn't they?"

"You're right. So how should we do this? Plug them in at the same time?"

"Sounds good to me," said Rose. "Also, we should both hold it, just to be sure neither of us gets left behind."

"Agreed."

Slowly, they lifted the keys and held them up to the slots. With one hand each firmly on the sphere, Rose and Martha looked at each other.

"Ready?" asked Rose.

"I just hope we get there in time. When we plug these in, think of the Doctor, just him. I'll think about him in the last place I saw him, and hopefully, the two of us combined will give this thing enough direction to get there," said Martha.

"Here we go. One, two, three."

At that moment, both girls shoved the keys firmly into the sphere's slots. Martha could feel a familiar wind whipping around them, lifting them up, and the sphere glowed so brightly that she had to shut her eyes against the light.

Then it all stopped.

* * *

Rose opened her eyes. The room was mostly dark, though there was a little ray of red-tinged light casting shadows on the wall. She couldn't hear anything. Lifting her head up, she looked around. Martha was sprawled on the floor beside her, unmoving. The sphere lay between them; it wasn't glowing anymore.

"Martha," Rose whispered. "Wake up."

She reached over and gently pushed Martha's shoulder. Martha stirred and looked up at her, blinking. For a moment, she didn't say anything but slowly took in their surroundings. Then, she smiled.

"We're here, Rose. We've made it!"

"Shhh. I'm not sure who else might be here with us. Haven't done any proper reconnaissance yet."

"Let's see," said Martha, as she sat up. "I wish I knew how much time passed here while I was in the parallel world. It took me a couple of days there. I hope it hasn't been that long here."

The two girls shared one unspoken, yet fervent thought: _I hope the Doctor's okay._

Martha began creeping around the large lab tables, and Rose followed close behind, both keys now firmly in her pocket. Tiptoeing through the room, they kept an eye out for where Martha had last seen the Doctor. The trouble was that many parts of the massive lab seemed to look alike. After several minutes of silent searching, Martha stopped walking suddenly. Not seeing this, Rose bumped into her. As Rose got up, Martha turned to her, a small smile on her face.

"I found him. He doesn't look very good from here," said Martha in a worried tone.

Energized thoroughly by the idea of seeing the Doctor- the real Doctor, not a hologram- Rose stepped around Martha and looked. There he was, sitting in a forlorn heap, eyes closed, wrist firmly encircled by the glowing chain.

Rose looked around quickly, then ran silently over to the Doctor's side. Martha hurried after her.

"Oh, Doctor," breathed Rose. "My Doctor."

She looked over at Martha, who nodded. "He's got a pulse and everything; it looks like he's just thoroughly exhausted. I'd bet it's got something to do with that chain."

Slowly, Rose reached over and tenderly brushed a stray lock of hair away from his face. Just then, the chain glowed brighter for a moment, then returned to its normal glow.

"Hang on. I think that did something to the chain, you touching him," said Martha. "Try it again."

Rose reached toward the Doctor again, this time clasping his limp hand in hers. Looking down at their intertwined fingers, Rose thought she saw a golden glow leap from her arm into his. The chain's glow increased ten-fold, then seemed to vanish altogether. The flash blinded them for a moment, but Rose looked down again when the Doctor's limp fingers tightened their grip against hers. The chain had snapped and lay in pieces on the floor, its glow gone. With her free hand, she stroked his cheek, and his eyelids fluttered open.

"I must be dreaming. This is... It's impossible."

"You like impossible," said Rose, a smile hovering on the corners of her mouth.

His eyes focused on her, as if he wanted to be sure she was real and not a desperate hallucination. He smiled and struggled to sit up. Rose helped, as Martha went over to the aisle to keep a lookout. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Yeah, well, forever got a little longer today, just for us."

He gazed her lovingly for a moment, then realized his surroundings. "We need to get back to the Tardis. Martha, remember where we parked?"

"It's not too far. Do you think you can make it?"

"If you asked, I think I could fly."

"So that's a yes. It's just a little ways down that hall. I'll scout it out, if you can help him, Rose."

The Doctor leaned heavily on Rose for a moment as he stood up, then seemed to find his own strength.

"There we are. Just needed a moment. All set?"

Rose nodded, and they headed out. Martha was right. It wasn't a long walk at all; once they turned the corner, Rose could see the Tardis parked at the end of the corridor.

Just then the red lights started flashing and the piercing ring of an alarm seemed to be coming from every direction.

The Doctor looked at Rose, worried eyes becoming playful as he grabbed her hand and yelled, "Run!"

They ran, hand-in-hand down the corridor, with Martha right in front of them. Feet pounding on the hard tiled floor and hearts racing, they neared the Tardis. Rose could hear shouts behind them in the distance. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time- just like it always was.

Reaching the Tardis door, Rose fumbled in her pocket, pulled out her key, and jammed it into the lock. Rushing inside, they slammed the door behind them. The Doctor practically skipped to the console, while Rose and Martha stood near the door, catching their breath.

"Ready to get out of here?" asked the Doctor.

Both girls nodded, and the Doctor grinned. "Well, then. Allons-y!"

He threw the console lever down, and the central Tardis column began to pulsate.

"Where are we going?" asked Rose.

"Oh, I figured we'd drift about 'til we picked something. Now then, Martha," he looked over at her, "I expect you've had an adventure."

"I'll say. You didn't tell me you were sending me to a parallel world."

"You didn't ask."

"Forget that, how did you send her?" asked Rose. "What's that sphere all about?"

"Ah, that. As soon as I saw it in the lab, I knew it was a trans-dimensional device. I couldn't believe it- there it was, a way around the lack of holes in the universe. Normally, I'd have looked it over and all, but as I'm sure Martha mentioned, we were discovered. I tried to be nice to them, really, I did. How was I supposed to know that offering your hand for a handshake is a rude gesture? It wasn't the last time I was on this planet," he said, shrugging.

Fiddling around with the Tardis console some more, he continued.

"Anyway, so we had a difference of opinion, and their opinion was that I should be locked up. The particular chain they used, well that was the problem. You see, the sphere and the chain are made out of the same material, but the sphere's more advanced- it knows when to stop drawing energy after it's done the job," said the Doctor. "It's really not safe to use as a chain, because it keeps drawing energy from whoever's connected to it. I knew there would be a trace of the Bad Wolf left in you, Rose. Not enough to harm you, but enough to overload this chain if you could get here to touch it. Obviously, I couldn't come get you myself, being chained up and all. I didn't have much time either- that thing was draining my energy so fast that I couldn't even give Martha proper instructions."

"Oh, like telling her she might land in Norway?"

The Doctor smiled sheepishly. "It all worked out in the end, though, didn't it? Now then, it seems to me there's something I haven't done."

Martha watched as he stepped over to Rose and swept her into a massive hug. Rose sniffled, and the Doctor loosened his grip. "Sorry, did I hurt you? I didn't mean to hug too tight."

"No, it's not that. It's just... I never thought I'd see you again after that day on the beach," said Rose, as tears spilled down her cheeks. "And now that you're here with me, it's just so wonderful; I can't help it."

He grasped her chin with one hand, wiping away her tears with the other, and she smiled one of her huge grins. A smile like that hadn't crossed her face in a long time.

* * *

"So where are you two off to now?" asked Martha.

"The Doctor thought he'd treat me to a day at the beach. Just a lazy day for the two of us," said Rose.

Then, just to Martha, she whispered, "Bet you the quiet doesn't last ten minutes and he actually lands us in Antarctica. But I don't care as long as we're together."

Martha laughed and picked up her rucksack.

"Are you sure you won't join us?" asked Rose.

"I've had enough of a vacation; now I've got to face up to my responsibilities- take my exams and finish my training. But you've got my number, yeah?"

Rose nodded. "And you've got mine? Because I'm counting on you to call us when you're ready to go on holiday. We'll swing by with the Tardis and have ourselves an adventure."

"It's a deal."

"Bye then, Doctor," Martha said as she waved and stepped over to the door.

"See you soon, Martha," said the Doctor. "And thank you."


End file.
